On Tacoma's eastside, Swan Creek Park is a somewhat hidden and undiscovered-to-some 373-acre oasis with an active salmon stream, a vast network of pedestrian trails and a 50-acre mountain bike trail system. It's also home to a food forest, which is a one-acre plot permaculture garden utilizing the natural processes of the earth to grow food.

The natural beauty of the park has attracted the creative eye of local artist and independent curator Lisa Kinoshita.

"(Swan Creek Park) is a natural setting for an environmental art show," Kinoshita said.

On Saturday, Aug. 27, Kinoshita, in partnership with Metro Parks Tacoma and supported by a $2,000 Make a Splash grant, will debut a Swan Creek Food Forest art exhibit entitled, "Art, Edibles, & Sustainable Culture." The temporary exhibit will present works by 15 artists plus students from the Tacoma School of the Arts. Unlike a traditional art exhibit, the works will be made of natural or reclaimed materials and will be immersed into the forest setting.

"(The works) will be waiting to be discovered by visitors exploring down trails, or on the somewhat ghostly grid of abandoned asphalt roads that crisscross the park," Kinoshita said. "Artists were requested to be sensitive to ADA accessibility when choosing their sites, preferably installing in areas visible from the road."

Kinoshita added that some of the all-natural pieces used in the works will be left to decompose back into the land, which is an interesting process.

Mary Tuttle, district-wide programs manager for recreation for Metro Parks Tacoma, said that what Kinoshita has dreamed up has been amazing.

"We have not done this in Tacoma," Tuttle said. "I am really impressed with Lisa and her foresight in doing something like this."

Tuttle, who has a background in performing arts, said she is always in awe of what visual artists pull off.

"To me, this (art show) is very interesting," she said. "It is taking visual art that we tend to think of (as) something more permanent, and it is actually temporary. I like the idea of the show. It allows the audience to have an experience after the first opening. The pieces could be changing because of the nature of the environment. The exhibit opens up at the end of August, and at some point we will get our rains and winds; it offers this unique experience of visual art with nature and what happens to nature over time."

The exhibit's opening day events will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the food forest located south of the Swan Creek community garden. Events will comprise of a drum circle, presentations by a Native American healer, a master gardener, a permaculture expert, a mushroom expert, and also hands-on children's activities - all made possible by donations from the Gotfried and Mary Fuchs Foundation, the William Kilworth Foundation, and the Florence B. Kilworth Foundation.

Swan Creek Food Forest art exhibit, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 27 (runs through Oct. 31), East 42nd St. and East Roosevelt Ave., free, metroparkstacoma.org